Since I was too busy eating, here's a photo from Gourmet magazine

Photograph by Romulo Yanes
 

I am so bad at taking photos of the dinners I make. After all that effort, I just want to eat! Last Thursday night was no exception when I hosted book club at my house. Thirteen lovely ladies showed up for dinner and drinks and good times. I cannot tell you how lucky I feel to have such amazing women in my life.

The book was The Dinner. The dinner was black beans and rice with a load of garnishes - roasted sweet potatoes, toasted pumpkin seeds, tomatillo salsa, cilantro, scallions, radishes and avocado. The dining-room table was used as a buffet for all the edible goodies, while my grandma's old dresser was used as the bar. We started with homemade guacamole, pico de gallo and tortilla chips and two big batches of margaritas. For dessert, we had dulce de leche sundaes with roasted coconut flakes (from Trader Joe's; my newest coconut obsession!).

Ever since I found this recipe on Gourmet magazine's website, it's been a mainstay in our house. The boys eat it simply, while the grown-ups can layer on the flavors and heat with the accompaniments.  As the recipe's author, Kemp Minifie, explains, it's her go-to entertaining dish, as it is a complex, vegetarian crowd-pleaser. 

 

Kemp’s Black Beans by Kemp M. Minifie
Makes 8 to 9 cups

Ingredients

1 lb. dried black beans (about 2 1/3 cups), picked over and rinsed (but not soaked)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
8 cups water
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup Sherry (cream or medium-dry)
1 to 2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 to 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Directions

Bring black beans, onion, oil, water (8 cups), and 1/2 teaspoon salt to a boil in a 6- to 8-quart heavy pot, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, until beans are tender, 1 1/2 to 2 hours (depending on age of beans). Thin to desired consistency with additional water. Stir in Sherry and remaining teaspoon salt, then soy sauce and vinegar to taste (start with 1 tablespoon each), and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes.

The beans improve in flavor if cooked at least 8 hours ahead. Chill, uncovered until completely cooled, then covered up to 1 week, or freeze up to 3 months. Beans thicken considerably as they stand, so thin with water when reheating over moderately low heat.
Note: Beans can be cooked in about one third of the time in a 6- to 8-quart pressure cooker. Follow recipe, combining beans with onion, oil, water, and salt in pressure cooker. Seal pressure cooker with lid and cook at high pressure, according to manufacturer’s instructions, until beans are tender, 30 to 45 minutes. Put pressure cooker in sink (do not remove lid) and run cold water over lid until pressure goes down completely.

Accompaniments

I serve the beans with Rick Bayless's classic, baked white rice from his Authentic Mexican cookbook. It's also great with simple, steamed white rice. The garnishes are key to this dish's success: roasted diced sweet potatoes, toasted pumpkin seeds, cubes of avocado tossed with lime juice, tomatillo salsa, lime wedges, chopped white onion, fresh cilantro sprigs, and radishes.
 

And, finally, here's what we're eating this week ...

Menu: week of 3 March 2013
Sunday: Spaghetti Bolognese with sautéed broccoli rabe
Monday: Shredded, slow-cooked chuck roast sandwiches on torta rolls with avocado and a tomato salad
Tuesday: Turkish-style green beans with whole-grain naan
Wednesday: Shredded beef tacos with onion and cilantro; served with an avocado-grapefruit salad
Thursday:  Chickpea and brown-rice casserole with lemon and herbs
Friday: Indian take-out

Happy eating, -s.   

My baby got sauce
Your baby ain’t sweet like mine
She got sauce
Your baby ain’t sweet like mine
She got sauce...

Sorry, couldn’t resist a little G Love and Special Sauce reference here.

James is currently experience one heck of a bout of separation anxiety. Poor little guy; Chris and I need to carry him constantly or he screams. He screams and wails and flails his arms and doesn’t breathe for 5 seconds. It’s a pretty rough scene, but soon he won’t want us to hold him at all, so I try to empathize while I do everything with one hand, like cooking and buttoning a shirt and putting on make-up — you get the picture; so dinner prep needs to be minimal and all done with babe on hip. Hence, stir-fries.

I have been working on and perfecting my go-to stir-fry sauce. We try to have some stir-fried greens (mustard, Chinese broccoli, kale, arugula, spinach) and a lean protein with brown rice (or my favorite pure-white, no-whole-grain-here jasmine rice) once a week. This is in no way authentic, but it is complex, crowd-pleasing and pantry-friendly.

 

Sarah’s oh-so-special sauce

enough for one stir-fry that serves 4 hungry bambini or adults

Ingredients

2 tablespoons tamari or low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon raw sugar or brown sugar
½ a lime, juiced
½ tablespoon roasted red chile paste
2 cloves garlic, grated on a microplane
1 thumb-sized knob of ginger, grated on microplane
½ teaspoon cornstarch (optional)

Directions
Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl, whisk to break down sugar and chile paste.

Pour onto stir-fry ingredients once they are browned and fully cooked. Cook for 1 minute, until slightly thickened and glossy.  Serve hot.

Happy eating, -s.

Our Christmas dinner was German-themed: roasted pork, potato dumplings, pickled vegetable salad and braised cabbage and apples – a pretty amazing meal that was kicked off with an afternoon noshing of flammkuchen that my sister Holley made. Flammkuchen is the German equivalent of pizza that is topped with quark or crème fraiçhe, onions and bacon/speck (see photo above of ours from Christmas). The crust is more cracker-like than chewy pizza crust – mainly due to the miniscule amount of yeast in the dough. It reminded me a lot of a lighter version of Suzanne Goin’s bacon and young onion tart with cantal cheese from her cookbook, Sunday Suppers at Lucques, of which I make a “lighter” version with just sautéed onions and the ricotta-crème fraiçhe base that tops flaky puff pastry.

In cooking, as in life, there are perfect pairs; onion and bacon are one of them. There is nothing better than sautéing onions in bacon fat to start a pot of clam chowder. Spaghetti carbonara and bucatini all’amatriciana are both sublime with the silky onions and pancetta that make up the base of their sauces; one creamy and unctuous; the other piquant. Onion and bacon can play multiple roles in the kitchen, as a flavor base, as the star of the show, or as a side note in a steaming bowl of pasta – a perfect pair indeed.

Here’s a link to a yummy recipe of flammkuchen from the very yummy blog, Delicious Days.

Up next: pork three ways: braised pork with polenta, shredded pork and avocado tacos and fragrant pork with jasmine rice and julienned cucumber.

Happy eating, -s.

Before our latest dinner group dinner, to me the land of Sweden was basically IKEA, Tretorns, ABBA, gravlax and Alexander Skarsgard (yum). Well, our hostess for this dinner was Cecilia, our dinner group’s local Swedish "ambassador" and the perpetuator of the myth that all girls from Sweden are blonde and beautiful. In working with her on the menu, I learned many things about Swedish food culture and I especially loved learning about Swedish Christmas celebrations and how family food traditions are treasured and showcased during that magic time of year.

Once I had a conceptual idea of what to serve, I checked out a few cookbooks from the library, as most of Cecilia’s recipes were in Swedish: the stunningly photographed The Scandinavian Cookbook and the charming Swedish Table. Both books had a seasonal bent to them, which helped make these somewhat heavy dishes feel lighter and brighter with the incorporation of fresh produce. What was surprising to learn was that the Swedish seasons mirror the seasons of the Upper Midwest, except we are lacking the prime ocean access and its briny bounty.

I couldn't have been more pleased with the menu. The courses worked well with each other. The creamy and hearty soup and the equally hearty meatballs were balanced nicely with the tart and crisp salad and the meal ended with an apple trifle that wasn't at all heavy and showcased the beautiful, in-season fruit perfectly. Each course was led off with a rousing "Schnapps" song and a tipple (or shot) of aquavit. Needless to say, all who attended left with full bellies and rosy cheeks ... and a warm feeling in their hearts. Skal!

Menu for SEPTEMBER 18

Cocktails and nibbles:
Icy-cold Vodka and Champagne
The Carlsson Family's Gravlax and store-bought pate with water crackers and toast

First Course: Yellow Pea Soup with bacon, tomatoes and parsley (The Swedish Table)

Second Course: Chanterelle, bacon and plum salad with blue cheese (The Scandinavian Cookbook)

Main Course: Swedish Meatballs with creamy mashed potatoes and served with an orange-scented cranberry sauce

Dessert: Apple Trifle (The Scandinavian Cookbook)

Happy eating, -s.

Sarah's Chicken Saag Curry served with basmati rice and wholegrain flatbread
Serves 2 adults, 2 hungry bambinos with leftovers for lunches
This is my lightened-up version of Chicken Tikka Masala. While butter and heavy cream make everything taste better, your backside doesn't need it on a weeknight. I used four split chicken breasts in making this originally, but since chicken breasts come in only double-D size now, I think three should suffice.

Ingredients
3 split chicken breast
Olive oil
Kosher salt and pepper

¼ cup sliced almonds
1 (1-inch) piece ginger, peeled
2 cloves garlic, peeled
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons smoked Spanish paprika
1 teaspoon ground coriander
A small pinch of dried chili flakes
1-28 oz. can of whole plum tomatoes with their juices
1 cup 2% Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cinnamon stick
2 bay leaves

2 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, diced
3-4 big handfuls of baby spinach leaves
1/2 cup golden raisins (optional, but really lovely)
1 teaspoon garam masala

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted, to garnish (optional, but again, lovely)
3/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro

Accompaniments:
Basmati rice
Fabulous Flats wholegrain "tandoori naan": This is not the naan you get at an Indian restaurant, but it's pretty darn good. Whole Foods carries this brand and their own version. Both work.

Directions
The night before: preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Place chicken breast on the baking sheet and lightly coat skin with olive oil and generous pinches of kosher salt and pepper. Roast for 35-40 minutes (depending on the size of the breasts. Let cool 15 minutes. Shred the meat into bite-size pieces and store covered in the refrigerator.

The day of: In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the almonds until finely ground. With machine running, add the ginger and garlic cloves until finely minced. Add cumin, coriander, paprika, chili and tomatoes, yogurt, honey and salt and blend until smooth. Set aside.

*Start cooking your basmati rice now and preheat your oven to 400 degrees for heating the flatbread.

Heat the oil in a large pan over medium-high heat and add the whole spices; cook 30 seconds to a minute. Add the onions and a pinch of salt and cook them until softened and lightly browned, but stir often, to avoid sticking. Raise heat to medium high and add spinach and sauté until wilted and some of its water has been released, about 3-5 minutes. Pour in the puree, and cook everything until it begins to boil and thicken slightly, about 5-10 minutes. Fold in the shredded chicken and golden raisins. Sprinkle the garam masala and salt over the mixture; stir to combine. Cover and cook over low heat for 10-15 minutes, allowing all the flavors to meld and chicken to reheat. Remove cinnamon stick and bay leaves.

Taste and adjust seasoning, as needed. Scatter with the toasted almonds and cilantro. Spoon over mounds of fluffy basmati rice. Serve with flatbread.

*Follow the directions on the package for cooking rice, but generally it is a 2-to-1 ratio of water to rice; bring to a boil, turn to low and cook covered for 15-20 minutes. Once the rice is cooked, I place a kitchen towel over the pot, put the lid back on and let the rice sit off the heat for 5-10 minutes. This yields very fluffy rice. For the flatbread, I throw them in the oven directly on a grate and let them crisp up a bit, about 3-5 minutes. Once out of the oven, brush with melted butter or olive oil.

Happy eating, -s.

Pickle recently found Chris’s very old copy of Of Mice and Men and has been carrying it around because it has a bunny on it (his latest obsession). It’s really quite cute: he’ll sit in one of our living-room chairs and open the book and peruse the words on the pages for a little while and then close the book, point at it and say, “Bunny.”

How does this relates to cooking or getting him to eat his dinner, you ask? It doesn’t really, but it does remind me of the verse that the title is derived from: “the best laid plans of mice and men,” which Steinbeck snagged from a Robert Burn’s poem (I digress).

Day to day; week to week, we all have good intentions — plans set out in our mind of things to accomplish, meals to make, laundry to fold, bills to pay, but sometimes those things don’t go off as planned, which is why everyone should have a solid back-up plan — especially when it comes to weeknight dinners.

From one of my menus a few weeks ago (week of 3 January to be exact), we were to have lentil salad with curry spices and yogurt. Well, that day we got slammed with a foot of snow and once I got home from work, I realized that I did not have the lentils for the salad and was not going to venture out again just for some French lentils. As Pickle would say, “uh-oh.”

Enter my go-to, failsafe, always-have-the-ingredients dinner: Turkish Poached Eggs with Yogurt and Spicy Sage Butter. The recipe is from a 1995 issue of Bon Appétit and whoever was the genius who thought to make it and print it in the magazine, thank you! The recipe is simple: poached eggs, Greek yogurt with some minced garlic and salt in it, a few crispy sage leaves and a very sexy-looking paprika-and-chile-infused butter to drizzle on top. I serve it with some multi-grain flatbread and dinner is served.

It’s perfect for dinner alone; for all three of us; for a first-course of a Middle Eastern-themed dinner party. Pickle loves it – I make sure his eggs are poached until the yolks are firm. He says, “Mmmm,” when he eats it and that makes me smile, which then makes me very happy that my plans were waylaid …and and isn’t that what makes life great?

Happy eating, -s.

I hope that everyone had a lovely holiday. Ours was fabulous — good food, good wine, good company, and good cheer! Pickle had the time of his life with his cousins Caitlyn and Luke. They literally ran around my parent's dining-room table for a half-hour chanting "Follow Rhys!" He was in heaven.

We eat later than most on Thanksgiving (around 6 p.m.) so that gives us some time to nosh on hors d'oeuvres in the afternoon while watching football and catching up. My assignment was to bring some of those snacks. My sister Heather was bringing a selection of cheeses and cured meats, so I thought I would balance that with some sort of dip/spread. I made Gourmet's recipe for muhammara — a Turkish roasted red pepper/tomato spread — and also my own recipe for a pumpkin seed/tomatillo "pesto" in which I baked some local goat's cheese.

The pesto literally came to me in a dream (yes, I even dream about food!). I thought pumpkin seeds were thematically appropriate for Thanksgiving. And I also thought some amped-up flavors were a good counterbalance to the traditionally clean and simple flavors of the dinner to come.

As you can see in the photo, this combo of dips would be perfect for the upcoming Christmas holiday, since it is a very appropriate red and green. Without further ado, here's the recipe and below that is our menu for the week.

Baked chevre with pumpkin-seed & tomatillo pesto
Ingredients
1/2 cup roasted and salted pepitos (pumpkin seeds)
1 bunch of cilantro, stems and all
3 scallions, cleaned, trimmed and coarsely chopped
1 can of tomatillos (or 8 fresh tomatillos, blanched and peeled)
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
4-6 oz fresh chevre, sliced into three or four "coins"
tortilla chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a food processor, place the pumpkin seeds and blitz until roughly chopped. Add cilantro and scallions and pulse 3-4 times; add tomatillos and cumin and pulse until mixture begins to get smooth. With machine running, slowly pour olive oil in through the feed tube.

In a oven-proof 1-quart baking dish, place half of the pesto. Arrange the chevre coins on top and cover with the remaining pesto. Bake for 15-20 minute, until bubbly and warmed through and chevre is starting to melt. Serve warm with tortilla chips.

Menu: week of 29 November 2009
Sunday: spaghetti and meatballs
Monday: tortellini en brodo with lacinato kale
Tuesday: Grilled cheese with ham and Bosc pear served with mixed greens vinaigrette
Wednesday: Meatball subs with roasted brussel sprouts
Thursday: Roasted butternut squash and beets in a cumin-shallot vinaigrette with hummus and whole-grain flatbread
Friday: Pizza with sauteed wild mushrooms and red onion

Happy eating, -s.

Sorry for the brevity, but here's what we're eating this week. Turkey, Lebanon, France and Italy are our culinary destinations ... which means lots of yogurt and flatbread. Delish.

Menu: week of 15 November 2009
Saturday: Pizza delivery and wine
Sunday: Winter squash lasagne with a salad of baby greens
Monday: Leftover lasagne with a crisp apple and walnut salad in a sherry-maple vinaigrette
Tuesday: Turkish poached eggs with yogurt and spicy sage butter; served with whole-grain flatbread
Wednesday: Lebanese Lentil-and-Rice Pilaf with Blackened Onions
Thursday: Turkish-Style Braised Green Beans; served with whole-grain flatbread
Friday: Croque-Monsieurs with a salad of baby greens

Happy eating, -s.

Anthony Bourdain visited Vietnam on a recent No Reservations and it got me hankering for a banh mi. I love the one at Mermaid Cafe, but they are not open for dinner (but should be!) so I had to come up with my own. It's definitely not what you would get in Vietnam, but it's vaguely reminiscent and sometimes that's just as good.

A traditional banh mi has julienned daikon in its "slaw," but since I’m trying to eat what is seasonal and local, the slaw in my recipe is comprised of carrots and broccoli stalks from our Driftless Organics CSA. The meats, both fresh and cured, vary from region to region and cook to cook, so I use roasted chicken breasts, as Pickle loves them, and took an idea from Gourmet’s recipe and use liverwurst instead of the traditional paté. This sandwich is all about assembly, so have everything prepped and ready to go before you start making the sandwiches. As the French say, "mise en place"… everything in its place!

Banh Mi
Serves 2, easily doubled

Ingredients
For the Slaw
1 small carrot, julienned
1 small broccoli stalk, julienned
Juice from ½ a lime
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon cane sugar

For the chicken
1 whole chicken breast, split – you will have leftovers, which I use for Pickle's dinner the following night, but it also makes great chicken salad.

1 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste
1 teaspoon olive oil

For the sandwich
1 tablespoon fish sauce
½ tablespoon soy sauce
½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 jalapeño, thinly sliced on the diagonal
½ cup cilantro leaves and some stems
4 large or 8 small basil leaves, preferably Thai basil
½ small red onion, thinly sliced
1 ½ inch disk of liverwurst, about 2 oz.
2 tablespoons mayonnaise mixed with one teaspoon Sriracha chile sauce
1 demi baguette or half a full-size baguette

Directions
Preheat oven to 375°F with rack in middle.

On a foil-lined cookie sheet, place the chicken breast halves. Coat with olive oil and then sprinkle with the 1 teaspoon five-spice powder, salt and pepper. Rub mixture into the skin to help penetrate. Roast for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cool while prepping the other ingredients. When cool enough to handle, discard skin and shred meat into bite-size pieces and set aside.

Julienne carrot and broccoli stalk using the julienne blade on a mandolin or by hand. Stir together lime juice, vinegar, sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt and toss with vegetables. Let slaw stand, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes. Then, drain slaw in a colander.

Meanwhile, split the baguette and trim ends if overly bulbous and heat baguette cut-side-down on rack in oven until crusty, about 5 minutes.

Mix together sesame oil, fish sauce, and soy sauce and brush on cut sides of bread. Spread liverwurst on bottom layer of bread and top with chiles, onion, basil and cilantro and lettuce. Spread top layer of bread with chile mayonnaise.

On top of the other fillings, arrange chicken, then slaw. Top with the other half and cut sandwich into two servings.

Happy eating, -s

We were out of town on Saturday, so no market trip this week. We still had some veggies leftover from our CSA delivery, so I was able to scrape together a menu for the week. I’ve also included a recipe that has been a favorite of ours for a while – originally a recipe from Marc Bittman’s Minimalist column in the NY Times, but has slowly morphed into something vaguely reminiscent. It’s a quick and satisfying dish ... Pickle scarfed it down in record time, including some from his dad’s plate.

Menu: week of 9 August 2009
Sunday: Eggs poached in tomatoes served crusty bread
Monday: Sautéed greens and potato tacos with green chile salsa and goat cheese
Tuesday: Zucchini, sweet corn and bacon pasta with caramelized cippolini onions … mmm, bacon and corn.
Wednesday: Chris is cooking … hopefully BLTs with the first tomatoes of the season with green beans vinaigrette
Thursday: Grilled sausage and peppers … on a bun or tossed with pasta – TBD
Friday: BLT pizza with tomatoes, bacon and arugula with a roasted garlic aioli – can't get enough BLTs!

Rhys’s dinners:
Sunday: Eggs poached in tomatoes served crusty bread
Monday: Sautéed greens and potatoes with shredded cheese and six-grain toast.
Tuesday: Ricotta frittata with zucchini, corn and bacon with six-grain toast
Wednesday: Leftover frittata
Thursday: Four-cheese ravioli with a winter squash sauce (recipe coming soon!)
Friday: Leftover ravioli with sautéed peppers


Eggs poached in tomatoes
Serves two adults; one hungry bambino

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ a large red onion, diced
2 sprigs of rosemary
2-3 chile de arbol, broken into pieces
1-2 garlic cloves, grated on a microplane
1, 28-oz. can organic San Marzano tomatoes; blitzed in food processor until chunky
6 extra-large eggs
Salt and pepper to taste
Crusty bread, warmed in oven

Directions:
Over medium heat, warm oil in large sauté pan with lid until shimmering; add chiles, rosemary and garlic. Sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add onions and a large pinch of salt and sauté for 2 minutes, stirring; reduce heat to medium low and cover. Cook 10 minutes, until onions are soft and translucent. Increase heat to medium and add tomatoes a generous pinch of salt and pepper to taste. Cook until sauce is bubbling. Crack eggs over sauce and season with salt and pepper; cover pan. Cook until whites are set and yolks are still slightly runny, about 5 minutes. Serve in a bowl with bread for scooping up the sauce.

While fall may have arrived in Madison this weekend (it was 68 degrees and cloudy), our CSA delivery was summer in a box! I can't wait to cook this week; I need some kitchen therapy to recover from last week's horrendousness at work. Know that bumper sticker that reads, "Mean People Suck”? Well, they really do!

But enough about that — time for the good stuff. Our Driftless Organics CSA box contained lots of goodies from all corners of the world. Italy was heavily represented with gorgeous cippolini onions, zucchini, Chioggia beets and basil. We’ll be hitting India with some curried cauliflower (aloo gobi); China with some lo mein and stir-fried green beans; France with some freshly ground sausage patties seasoned with herbes de Provence and served with cabbage sautéed in beurre noisette (aka brown butter). We’ll be heading across the border with some escabèche-style veggies that are great with a cold beer and some tortilla chips. Hopefully work won’t get in the way of cooking this week and I’ll have lots to share.

In our CSA box:
Basil
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Cippolini onions
Cucumbers
Collard Greens
Dill
Fresh Garlic
Green Beans
Garnet and Chioggia beets
Green Zucchini
Pickling Cucumbers
Red Cabbage
Red Romaine Lettuce

Menu: week of 19 July 2009
Sunday: Day of rest (even a foodie needs a day off)
Monday: Curried cauliflower with basmati rice
Tuesday: Garlicky sautéed collards on fresh ricotta bruschetta with roasted beet salad
Wednesday: Stir-fried green beans with spicy ground turkey
Thursday: Caramelized cippolini and zucchini pizza with chevre and oregano
Friday: Fresh garlic lo mein with stir-fried sesame broccoli topped with a fried egg
Saturday: Homemade sausage with sautéed red cabbage in beurre noisette
Extra, Extras! Escabèche-style pickled veggies, zucchini bread and a big batch of pesto for the freezer

What’s on the menu at your house? I would love to know what you’re cooking this week!

I think just about every cuisine has a meatball recipe — albóndigas (Spain), koftë (Turkey), polpette (Italy), frikadeller (Finland), bakso (Indonesia), gehaktbal (Netherlands), bola-bola (Philippines), Fleischlaibchen (Austria), köttbullar (Sweden), faggot (UK, seriously), pulpety (Poland), just to name a few.

My favorite ball of meat is the koftë – those wonderful spice- and herb-filled delights that hit the spot every time. While my favorite method of cooking koftë is to grill them, I live in Wisconsin so the grilling season is a short one and I want these puppies all year round. Because of this, I have come up with a baked version that, while lacking in that glorious charred exterior, is still juicy and flavorful.

I serve them with a lemon-scented, herb-flecked Greek yogurt sauce, grilled/roasted veggies (asparagus; Juliette tomatoes – can’t wait till they are in season; zucchini; eggplant, etc.) or some crisp cucumbers, and grilled naan or pita. I could eat about 20 of them, but I restrain myself to about six or eight. Here’s the recipe:

Oven-baked Koftë
Serve 4-6 adults

Ingredients

Sauce:
1 cup plain Greek yogurt (preferably whole-milk, but 2% would suffice)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
Juice from ½ a lemon
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ freshly ground pepper

Koftë:
1 cup firm white bread, torn into small pieces
1 small onion (about 1 cup)
¼ cup loosely packed fresh parsley leaves
¼ cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves
1 lb ground lamb (from shoulder) – ground chuck or turkey thigh work well, too.
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground allspice
½ teaspoon cayenne
½ teaspoon cumin
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¼ cup pine nuts, toasted (I've also used pistachios)

Special equipment: If grilling, you will need 6 wooden skewers, soaked in cold water for 30 minutes or 6 metal skewers (no soaking needed).

Directions

Make the sauce:
Stir together yogurt, mint, cilantro, garlic, lemon zest and juice and salt in a small bowl and chill.

Make the meatballs:
Cover bread with water in a bowl and soak 15 minutes. Squeeze handfuls of bread to remove as much excess water as possible, and then transfer to a bowl.

In a food processor, pulse onion, herbs and pine nuts until finely chopped, then add to bread along with lamb, salt and spices. Mix with your hands until well blended. Using a small ice cream scoop, form lamb mixture into balls (a scant tablespoon each).

Assemble and cook koftë:
Prepare grill for cooking over medium-hot charcoal or preheat oven to 425 degrees.

To grill:Thread 6 meatballs ¼-inch apart onto each of 6 skewers. Grill koftë on oiled grill rack, until golden and just cooked through, 4 to 6 minutes.

To bake: On a Silpat-lined baking sheet, roll meatballs in extra virgin olive oil until lightly coated. Place them ½-inch apart and bake for 15-18 minutes until golden brown, flipping once during baking.

Serve piping hot with yogurt sauce.

This is a truly bastardized recipe for Asian-style slaw that pulls in influences from across Southeast Asia. It captures the magical balance of flavors for which this complex region is known: sour, sweet, spicy and salty. It’s also a great way to use up leftover grilled meat. We used steak, but pork tenderloin, chicken (shredded), shrimp or fish would all work in its place. While it was only 75 degrees in Madison when we ate it, this would be a perfect dinner to make when it’s hot out. Just crack open a couple bottles of Tsingtao or Singha and enjoy.

Asian-style slaw with grilled steak
Serves 3-4 people

Ingredients

Dressing:
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon fish sauce (nam pla)
Juice from ½ a lime
1, 1-inch knob of fresh ginger, peeled and grated on a microplane grater
2 red chiles – Fresno (mild), Serrano (medium) or thai bird (hot) chiles, thinly sliced diagonally
1 heaping tablespoon natural peanut butter
3 tablespoons hot water

Slaw:
4 cups very thinly sliced green cabbage
1 carrot, julienned
1 scallion, thinly sliced on a diagonal
3 tablespoons cilantro or mint, chopped finely

6-8 oz. leftover, cold grilled steak – tri-tip, skirt or flank steak would work well; thinly sliced.

Directions:
Combine slaw ingredients in a large serving bowl; toss to distribute evenly.

In a small saucepan, combined dressing ingredients. Whisk over medium heat until dressing is smooth and hot; don’t let it boil.

Pour dressing over slaw and let sit for at least 15 minutes to allow cabbage to wilt slightly – don’t let it sit longer than 30 minutes or you will have a soggy mess.

Mound slaw onto plates. Place some of the sliced steak on top. Enjoy!